a-Si versus c-Si material and solar cells similarities and differences

Abstract

It is shown that the design considerations for c-Si (crystalline silicon) solar cells greatly differ from those for a-Si (amorphous silicon) cells. Due to inherent atomic disorder, the a-Si material has a large and continuous distribution of gap states having a profound effect on the internal physical properties of a-Si material and on the resulting electrical properties of solar cell terminals. The design rules utilized in designing efficient c-Si cells cannot be used for optimization of the internal structures of a-Si solar cells, and conversely, the design considerations for a-Si cells do not apply to c-Si solar cell structures.<>